Two friends, one passion: (L) Tan Weiwei and Wang Tao during a promotional event for Tao’s album, “Night & Day,” held in Beijing on Nov. 2. (R) Sharing the stage together, performing “Good Times.” (Photo : CRIENGLISH)
Seasoned clarinetist Wang Tao injects jazz, rock and pop to his brand of music in an effort to somehow reinvent himself as a musician.
Released in Beijing in October, Wang’s latest album, “Night & Day,” reflects such reinvention, reported China Daily.
Wang recorded his 10-track album under Universal Music Company in four different parts of the globe: Beijing, Boston, London and Taipei. He collaborated with some musicians in these places.
Composed of only one song and, the rest, instrumental music, Wang said that his latest work varies “from classical music to rock opera,” reported CRIENGLISH.
The award-winning clarinetist conveys seemingly ordinary scenes of everyday life through his latest work.
In “Xipi,” the sight and sound of elderly women in parks singing Peking Opera served as his inspiration. A late-afternoon traffic jam registered in his mind while recording “Red Lips.”
Love perhaps always finds its way to any artist’s album, and in this case, “First Sorrow” deals with Wang’s first love.
“Super Girl’s” third season runner-up Tan Weiwei, Wang’s childhood friend, interpreted “Good Times.” This is the album’s lone song.
Born in 1978 in Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Wang Maojun’s only son took another path far from becoming a professional football player like him.
At the tender age of nine, Wang bagged an award at the Golden Panda - Sichuan Children Band Contest in the late ‘80s, according to Sunning View.
Wang enrolled at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing’s Xicheng District in 1995. He graduated with a master’s degree in clarinet and became the first alumnus of the school to earn such degree.
Wang’s “Send You a Blue Gift for Winter” won the Best Instrumental Album during the 18th Golden Melody Awards held on June 16, 2007 at the Taipei Arena in Taiwan.
After dating for more than a decade, Wang and retired gymnast-turned-singer-actress and Olympic gold medalist Liu Xuan got married in a low-profile ceremony in Jan. 2012 in Las Vegas, U.S.A., according to Shenzhen Daily.
The couple exchanged marriage vows one more time aboard a yacht in Hong Kong on Dec. 7, 2013. Celebrations lasted until the next day. Multi-hyphenate celebrity He Jiong hosted the festivities.
Wang now shares his expertise in playing the clarinet as a lecturer at CCOM’s Orchestral Instruments Department.
